Shipping Industry Six Freight Forwarders Fined for Price Fixing Six international freight forwarders — which consolidate cargo shipments — have agreed to plead guilty and pay criminal fines totaling $50.3 million in a federal investigation, the U.S.

According to the charges, the six freight forwarders were accused of conspiring to impose fees on customers purchasing international freight-forwarding services for air cargo to the U.S. between 2002 and 2007.

More than a dozen airlines have settled with regulators — paying more than $1.5 billion in fines — amid probes into fuel surcharges by regulators in Europe, North America and Asia that have also ensnared freight forwarders, U.S. railroad operators and ocean-shipping companies.